No. 144.] 397 



Ice boxes for domestic purposes may be constructed on the same 

 principle, but it is necessary to make the division horizontal in 

 order to get a sufficient height of condensed air to secure a pro- 

 per circulation. 



Eailroad cars for the conveyance of fresh " fish, flesh and fowl" 

 are also made on the same principle, but it has been found advisa- 

 ble to urge the circulation by means of a fan, as an additional 

 security against an imperfect distribution of the cold air through 

 the mass stowed in the cars. 



Robert L. Pell, President of the American Institute, was re- 

 quested to give some account of his own ice houses, and those he 

 had examined on other estates. 



Mr. Pell said that he would reply to Mr. Paul Stillman's re- 

 marks on tins subject, and that he thought an inverted log cabin 

 was the best for ice keeping. For thirteen years past he had en- 

 joyed the advantages of such a house; and although it was only 

 ten feet square by ten feet and a half deep, it afforded an abun- 

 dance of ice for a large family, who used it without stint. 



Last fall, owing to the decay of the logs, Mr. Pell was obliged 

 to build a new ice house, and constructed one of brick, making 

 the wall twelve inches thick, laid in cement, and the house six- 

 teen feet six inches square, and of the same depth under ground. 

 He carried the west wall two feet above the surface of the conti- 

 guous ground, and the east wall even with it. He covered it, 

 and made four hatches, which are taken off in winter when the 

 house is filled with ice. Four feet from the bottom a brick slide 

 is carried at an angle to the surface. This slide is four feet wide. 

 The bottom is covered with flags, the object being to introduce 

 the ice to the lower part of the house, and then fill in gradually. 

 It is packed in layers, and the interstices are filled with snow, 

 which forms the best packing. He said that the lower portion of 

 the house rested upon gravel, which forms the very best drainage 

 possible. There are three ventilators on the top of the house. 



The President called up the subjects of the day — among them, 

 " Building farm houses, &c., without tenons or mortices." 



